Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Stupid Trainer Tricks

Last night on The Biggest Loser trainer Bob Harper was going over the food his contestants were eating. He was understandably troubled by the fact that his trainees, who were in the 16th week of the contest, didn't seem to have a good grasp of basic nutrition so he told them to videotape everything they prepared and ate.

I won't go into all the details of what he saw in the video but basically his contestants were eating too few calories and too little protein. Unfortunately, instead of encouraging them to increase the amount of real food protein they consumed, he went into a plug for Biggest Loser Protein Powder. Ugh.

Look, I realize that Bob & fellow trainer Jillian Michaels are expected to hawk crap like this but it’s annoying and unfair to the public.

I know Jillian is a proponent of eating as little processed food as possible and yet a few weeks ago they had her pushing Cheerios. (BTW, did you know that Whole Grain Cheerios have some kind of sugary coating on them? So much for a "healthier" version.) I don't know if Bob really believes that protein powder is a better source of nutrition than real food but I sure hope not.

This has been going on since TBL started but I really wish the producers would stop inserting commercials into the actual show. If Bob Harper recommends a 100 Calorie Snack Pack to his trainees, people think that's a good choice and it's not.

Let the sponsors advertise during commercial breaks and let the trainers advise the contestants (and, in turn, the audience) with the same information they use with their private clients.

2 comments:

james.powerade said...

i totally agree and am very upset with how misleading and completely confusing all these weight loss shows are becoming and how everyone is just pushing bullshit products on us without truly caring and knowing what results they may create. i would like to mention one product that i believe in and have been using. PROTO WHEY has helped me get that extra protein that i need. it has micro formulated protein that is more easily absorbed into the body. the reason i mention this brand, i because i have found it to be the one protein powder with this concentrated protein, but also with the fewest calories, fat and sugar content. and it tastes great! hope this helps!

Mickey said...

James,

You completely missed the point of my post. The vast majority of people who want to lose weight don't need protein powder; they should be eating real food.